Oswald of Northumbria
King of Northumbria
Feast: 5 August (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Oswald, son of King Ethelfrid, fled in youth to the Scots and was cared for at St Columba's monastery on Iona. In 635 he returned and, encouraged by a vision, won the battle of Heavenfield and became King of Northumbria.
Thoroughly grounded in the faith, he was called by Bede 'the most powerful and most Christian King'. He was killed fighting the pagan Penda of Mercia at Maserfield on 5 August 642, his last words a prayer for his soldiers' souls.
The miracles
There was never a formal cause: he has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.
Why that counted as sanctity
A Christian king who died praying for his men.
Connected on this site
- Æbbe of Coldingham Saint Brother or sister
- Birinus Saint“Finding the West Saxons wholly pagan, he gave his ministry to them, and baptised their king Cynegils in 635, with St Oswald of Northumbria as sponsor.” — this site's research
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - St. Oswald of Northumbria
- Wikidata Q336016 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Oswald of Northumbria (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.